No one was hurt, no other buildings were involved, and aside from the church and its contents, no other damage was done.

I heard a crackling noise, looked out my house-office window and saw the flames. I called 911 while nagasiva ran a garden hose on the plants. The church sat on a flagstone pad and was built as a chimney, to conduct flame in the case of such an event. The Forestville Volunteer Fire Department responded very quickly (they are three blocks away) and everything was under control in less than half an hour.

It is my intention to cease candle services at this time. I was going to do so in May 2019 anyway, as part of my retirement, and it seems foolish to make a big deal about rebuilding for a mere year and a half of service.

Ceasing the candle services does leave issues of financial obligation to our clients The church has money at Paypal and in its bank account to refund for the candles currently unlit. That leaves the issue of the candles that were ruined. We will attempt to refund for those as well, or to make other arrangements for them to be started over.

We have closed down the church's candle-services web page to prevent further financial obligations and have created a redirect page that briefly explains what has happened and rolls directly over to Four Altars Gospel Church, our sister-church in Southern California, where Deacon Millett and his helpers can accommodate your needs.